Custom styles -
Creating and
applying custom styles
Saving custom styles to your default (or other) template
Retrieving (importing) custom
styles from other documents or
templates
Resetting modified
WordPerfect styles to the WordPerfect
default
Deleting (removing) custom styles from a document, custom template, or the default template when you don't need them anymore
Related "styles" pages on this site:
Styles - About
styles (types, tips, examples)
Mark a custom style for
automatic inclusion in a Table of Contents
Replace one
style with another, or remove a style's codes
Block
protect paragraph styles (e.g., "Heading 2") and following body text
Using, creating, and
modifying Outline styles
Automatic paragraph
numbering, outlines, and numbered lists
Automatically
numbered document headings
Adding emphasis to
text:
How to create custom paragraph/page border or fill styles
How to create a
Question-and-Answer (Q&A) style
Insert
identical text in several locations (Note:
WordPerfect 10 can do this with its new 'text variables' feature)
Alternative
heading styles - A "Stepped" style;
Legal-number-style headings and other automatically numbered headings;
using the Columns feature
Graphics tips (many graphics you create or insert are controlled by
sytles)
|
Creating and applying
custom text styles
Working with text styles
• What are they?
Basically, styles are collections of
formatting attributes that enable you to quickly apply all their formatting at once. They are like little "containers" of format
codes (sometimes even including ordinary text characters or symbols).
Text styles can be accessed using the Format, Styles menu choice.
[N.B.: To use or modify outline styles (i.e., automatically numbered or lettered or bulleted lines or paragraphs) or graphic styles, see the links in the general tips above.]
For example, WordPerfect ships with various pre-made styles -- including five paragraph heading styles named Heading 1 through
Heading 5. When
heading styles are applied to text they add various common formatting
attributes -- such as large bold centered text -- to the entire
paragraph (typically this is a centered title or a short "heading"
phrase at the left margin). These five factory-shipped styles have certain other advantages, such as
when you set up a Table of Contents (described here).
In addition to accessing these styles with Format, Styles you can quickly access them from the Select Style drop list on the text property bar that should appear when your cursor is in the body text area of the document. Any custom, user-created text styles will appear on that list, too, making it a quick and easy way to apply your favorite styles.
[N.B.: The text property
bar normally displays when your cursor is in the body text area of the document.
If it does not -- perhaps because you clicked View, Hide Bars -- use
View, Toolbars and enable (tick) the "Property Bar" checkbox.]
You can also create and use your own custom text styles, which is the main topic on this page.
•
Once you create a custom text style ... then what?
• You can apply the style to
[A] selected text, or
[B] to the next paragraph,
or
[C] (for Document styles (see below)) to the entire document from the cursor onward until the style is
discontinued or replaced by another style.
This can be done is several ways, but the easiest is to simply use the
Select Style drop list on the text property bar to choose the style you need. Or use Format, Styles from the program's main menu.
You can also apply an existing style -- i.e., one that appears in Format, Styles -- with a simple macro: See Step 8 below.
• Custom styles are saved with the current
document (by default), but you can also save them for future use as part of a specific template such as the default template.
• You can retrieve, copy, edit, and rename
a text style, which is useful if you want to create a new style based
on the formatting options of an existing style.
• You can restore a pre-set system (i.e., factory) style,
and you can delete any of your user-defined (i.e., custom) styles.
• More on these topics below....
• There are three general
types of WordPerfect text styles, which differ in how they work.
□ Document styles (a.k.a. "Open" styles) apply to all material in a document
from the cursor location forward until another style with the same type of formatting (e.g., a new font) is encountered (if
any).
[For more on WordPerfect's sequential, or "stream," formatting see here.]
Tips
The most common style of this type is the initial style at the very
top of a document, visible in Reveal Codes as [Open Style: DocumentStyle]. It sets up default formatting for the document.
Note that this important style
can be edited to customize it by double-clicking its code in Reveal Codes. [For more on setting up initial formatting see "How to set default formatting for new documents: A step-by-step guide" here.]
Open styles have various uses, including at the top of
individual documents to easily and quickly add some specific initial
document formatting, such as to set up special formatting for a book
chapter's body text.
They also can be used to ensure consistent formatting in a file created
by adding several documents together (e.g.) with Insert, File, or when
linking several "subdocuments" with the Master/Subdocument feature (see
tips here). Using a uniquely named custom Open style placed at the top of each of these documents (but not
placed inside the initial Open Style: DocumentStyle code) can help
"force" uniform formatting. Again, these styles apply to text from the
style's location forward unless another style is encountered further in the document that supersedes that style's specific formatting.
□ Paragraph styles can be applied to either selected text or at a point where you
want to format newly created text, and they will affect entire paragraphs (up to
the point where your selection ends or, if you are applying them to new
text, to the point where you
press <Enter>).
Tips
Here, a "paragraph"
is any text that ends with a hard return -- i.e., a [HRt] inserted with
the Enter key or with a similar "paragraph-ending" code such as a
[Para Style] code.
Because short text phrases are often
used as headings or section titles, WordPerfect comes with several
standard Paragraph styles (Heading 1 through Heading 5), available from
the drop list on the Text property bar. They are also set up ("marked") to be included in a Table of Contents.
WordPerfect also has several built-in
Outline styles, which are a
special form of Paragraph style that produce automatically numbered, lettered, or bulleted paragraphs.
Paragraph styles generally will override the document's default
formatting or
other open style formatting that might be in effect at the current cursor location.
Exceptions:
They won't override the same text attribute
(a.k.a. appearance)
-- e.g., using bold in
the Paragraph style applied to some text won't replace (i.e., reverse) bold in a preceding
Open style's text at that location. They also won't override an
existing relative
font size -- e.g., a large relative size won't replace a small relative stze. However, you can simply select the relevant Paragraph style's text and
directly apply the new attribute or relative size (see the Format, Font menu). This should allow you to
change the format of the Paragraph style's text directly, even when it is "downstream" from the Open style's text.
□ Character styles typically are applied to selected text — i.e., text you first select ("highlight") with your mouse or keyboard — and they are usually
limited to applying a different font or a combination of font attibutes
(bold, underline, color, etc.). But they can contain other elements such as text characters (e.g., brackets or parentheses).
Tips
If you simply apply a Character style without
selecting any text first, the program inserts a pair of On/Off
Character style codes at the cursor location, bracketing the insertion
cursor. (See tips and notes below.)
You can then just start typing and the style will automatically apply
to the new material. When finished typing that styled text, press the right arrow key once to
skip over the (Off) code of the pair. You then can resume typing
with the style in effect before the Character style was applied.
Character styles will generally
override any Paragraph styles
that might be in effect at the current cursor location. This is one way
to apply (e.g.) a new color to selected text at that location.
Exceptions:
They won't override the same text attribute (a.k.a. appearance)
-- e.g., using italics in
the Character style won't replace (i.e., reverse) italics in the
Paragraph style's text at that location. They also won't override an
existing relative
font size -- e.g., a large relative size won't replace a small relative stze. However, you can simply select the relevant Character style's text and
directly apply the new attribute or relative size (see the Format, Font menu). This should allow you to
change the format of the Character style's text directly, even when it is nested inside a Paragraph style's text.
You can also use QuickStyles (see below) to apply a style. QuickStyles are styles
created based on the formatting in effect at the current cursor
location.
The type of style in
effect in a document (i.e., Document, Paragraph, or Character) should
be visible directly on the code itself in Reveal Codes. Just hover your cursor
over the code for a moment or two.
t is important to note a few things about these WordPerfect style codes:
Paragraph styles and Character styles are paired-code
styles. The first code in the pair starts the style ("on" code) and the second code stops it ("off" code).
Further, if you open Reveal Codes and delete just one code of the pair, you will delete both codes. (This
is actually a handy thing: It saves you from having to search for the second
code in order to delete it.)
On the other hand, Document ("Open") styles are produced by a single code that
remains in effect until replaced by another style containing the same type of formatting.
How to create and apply a
new text style (from scratch)
Tips
☼ The information below is not as complicated or time consuming as it might appear. Much
of it contains options and tips you might not need at this time; consider them as
references for possible future needs.
☼ To modify an existing text style, see below.
☼ To modify outline styles -- which
are specially numbered paragraphs -- see the Outlines page here.
Step 1. Click
Format, Styles to bring up the Styles dialog.

Step 2. Click
the Create button on the Styles dialog. This brings up the Styles Editor dialog.

Step 3. Type a
name for the style in the Style Name field (12 characters maximum).
Give each style a unique
name. Here's why:
If you combine documents that contain a style with
the same name, only one version of that style will active in the new
document; the other will be deleted. If you open an older document or a
document from someone else that has a style in it with the same
name as one of your styles, your current style will take
precedence.
Step 4. Type a
brief description for the style in the Description field.
Step 5.
Choose
a style type from the Type list drop list.
By default the Paragraph
style is chosen, but you can also choose Character or Document. (See
more about the three
general types of styles above.)
If you want the program to automatically update the style
when you change any instance of the applied style in a document, enable
(tick) the checkbox, "Automatically update style when changed in the
document". For more information about this option see the tips section
(Step 7) below.
Step 6. Click inside the Contents pane and add your desired formatting to the style:
Using the Styles Editor's own menu and/or property bar (the "toolbar" under
the Editor's File...Tools menu), click on the style attributes you want to apply --
e.g., tab (Insert, Tab) or indent (Format, Paragraph, Indent),
font, bold, relative size, etc. This puts various format codes into the Styles
Editor's Contents pane.
If you want the new formatting to apply
to just the text of a Paragraph or Character style and then change to
something else immediately following that text, see the tip below about the Editor's option to "Show 'off codes'".
Notes
¤ Later, you can add or modify these items [i.e., in the Editor's Contents pane] by editing
the style.
¤ The Styles Editor's property bar
is a "clone" of the program's standard Text property bar. As with any
toolbar or property bar, it can be modified to add buttons to it.
(See below.)
¤ If you wish to set a specific decimal size for a font (i.e., a fractional font size like 11.5 points) inside the Styles Editor: See Method B in "Setting decimal font sizes in WordPerfect" here.
Step 7. Do any
of the following:
□ Set up
a "chain" of styles
[These options are inactive if you are creating a Document style (see above).]
Choose an option from the "Enter key
inserts style" list box to define what the <Enter> key does when
the style is applied.
"<None>" means the style ends when
<Enter> is pressed in the document area, and it is a typical choice.
"<Same
Style"> means the style "chains to itself," and thus will continue
to be applied until you move the cursor past the ending code
of the style in Reveal Codes, or you deliberately apply a new style.
You can also select an existing style that should immediately follow
(i.e., be chained to) the current style when you press
<Enter>. [Example: See "How to create a Question-and-Answer (Q&A) style" here.]
□ Optionally
format subsequent material
Enable the "Show 'Off Codes'"
check box
at the bottom of the Styles Editor to display the formatting (codes and
even characters) that takes effect at the point where a style ends.
(See below for some practical uses
for the new, long code that appears when you enable this check box.)
The other checkbox, "Reveal codes," is enabled by default and simply displays
the codes for the style attributes in the Editor's Contents pane. Thus it should be left enabled in most situations.
□ Optionally
include text characters, or even styles from other documents
With the cursor inside the Contents
pane of the Styles Editor, you can not only insert format codes from
the Styles Editor menu or toolbar, you can also type text characters
that will become part of the style. And as discussed in the next item below,
you can even select, copy, and paste format codes -- such as other
styles -- into the
Contents pane from another open document. This also can be
done anytime by editing the style.
□ Tips relating to using the
Styles Editor
Copy
existing formatting into a style code
You can also select
format codes or text in the body text area of any open document and copy them
to the clipboard (<Ctrl+C>) or cut them to the clipboard
(<Ctrl+X>). Then paste them (<Ctrl+V>) into the Contents
pane of the Styles Editor.
This is most easily done in the source
document's Reveal Codes window by using <Shift+arrow> to
carefully select just the desired codes and/or text.
Note
This select-copy-paste method
is one way (see below for another way) to deal with those
circumstances where inserting some codes -- such as [Delay] codes or [Highlight] codes --
into a
style cannot be done from the Styles Editor's own menu or toolbar, or
when the code doesn't seem to "take" -- such as setting line spacing to
"1.0" when the document is already using that spacing (the program is designed to remove unnecessary duplicate codes).
Tip
You can set line spacing to any other amount such as 1.1, then set it
back to 1.0 to produce a [LnSpacing:1.0] code in the document. This
tips works for other default values such as resetting margins to 1.0"
in a document where they are already set to that dimension (see here), or resetting page numbers in multi-page merge documents (see here).
The method
is explained in more detail in the article, "Automating WordPerfect Templates"
(see "Formatting custom templates," and the tips in that section).
It was also mentioned in a tip from Noal Mellot in a post
on WordPerfect Universe:
"[WordPerfect] styles accept many codes, but
some of the more complex codes (table, header, footer, graphic or an
open style) cannot be created or edited inside the style itself. They
can only be created or edited in the ordinary document screen, whence
you can cut and paste them into a style. ... Some codes encapsulated in
a style (via the Styles Editor) cannot be modified once there (WP runs
a message telling you so [or the program might simply freeze]). In
these cases copy such a code back into the document, modify it there
and then re-copy it back into the style. For example, you might have
trouble editing a header and delay/discontinue codes related to it
inside a style. If so, cut the codes out of the style and pasting them
in the ordinary document screen. Edit them there and then paste them
back into the style."
Automatically
update the style
When you create [or modify] a style you can
enable the option in the Styles Editor to have WordPerfect automatically
update the style when you change any instance of the applied style in a document.
(Just tick the "Automatically update style..." checkbox adjacent to the Type drop list.)
For example:
Once you have enabled the option you could select the text to which
the style was applied and add a blue color to it. All other text in
that document to which that style was applied will immediately turn
blue.
Similarly you could change the style's font type or font size, add
italics formatting, add text characters, or even copy other format
codes from other documents into that style as discussed above in this Tips section.
An alternative to
first selecting the text to which the style was applied and then adding
custom formatting to it: Simply double-click directly on the [Style]
code in Reveal Codes to edit that code via the Styles Editor (as described in Step 6 above), and then add or change the desired color (e.g.) directly in the style code using Format, Font, Color on the Styles Editor dialog's menu.
Note
If you share such a document with other
WordPerfect users,
be sure to let them know about this feature so they are not surprised
or mystified when they apply or change some formatting in text where
such a style has been applied.
Unless they look in Reveal Codes to see
that a style was applied to that text they might not notice this fact,
and format changes they make will be applied to all instances of that
style in the document.
* * *
Use the special code available inside
the Styles Editor to start and stop some formatting
If the checkbox at the bottom of the Styles
Editor labeled "Show 'off codes'" is enabled (ticked), you should see a
long code in the Contents pane, "Codes to the left are ON - Codes to the right are OFF" like this:

This long code is a
sort of placeholder for the document text that displays (and prints) when the style is applied to it.
[Note that this code does not
appear in a Document ("Open") style since that type of style doesn't contain an "off"
code.]
Hence, you can tell WordPerfect
to apply formatting from the beginning of selected or chosen text in the document ("on" format codes are
placed on the left side of that long code) to the end of the selected or chosen text ("off" codes or replacement codes are often placed on the right side of
that long code).
Some Paragraph or
Character style formatting does not need to span this long placeholder
code for it to apply to just the text the style is applied to. On the
other hand paired format codes or begin/end text characters can make good use of this placeholder code to force their on/off actions.
Related tips
- To apply paired
format codes (e.g., italics, underlining, etc.), it is easier to use
<Shift+arrow> to select this long code, then apply
the paired format codes to it (e.g., by using the Editor's property bar
to apply italics formatting). On the other hand, single format codes can be
directly placed either before or after this long placeholder code,
depending on whether they should afftect the style's text or they
should follow that text (e.g., a graphic line used to underline the
block of text).
- To apply single
format codes (e.g., a text [Color]), just position the cursor before
the placeholder (and another one after it if you want that type of
formatting to change to some other value after the style ends, as in
the line spacing shown in Example 1 below), and then use either the
Editor's menu or its property
bar to insert the desired format code.
- If the style has been marked inside the Styles Editor with two special format codes for inclusion in a Table of Contents ([Mrk Txt T.O.C.]) see here.
Generally, you will want to place any special formatting, text
characters and/or symbols outside these two special codes so that they
won't also appear in the TOC.
- You can
also use text characters -- including brackets [], parentheses (),
symbols (•), or spaces -- to surround the displayed document text by
placing one of them before the placeholder code and the other after the
placeholder code.
Example 1: If you have a document with default body text line spacing
set to 1.5 lines, and wish to have quotations indented in single-space [screen shot here], you can add a
line spacing code after that long code to restore the following
line spaces to 1.5 [screen shot
here].
* * *
Use a button from the main toolbar to add other formatting to the style
While you can usually add a
lot of custom formatting to a style using the Styles Editor's own toolbar or
menu, some
format codes are not available on either its toolbar (a.k.a its property bar) or its menu.
If a desired format choice is not available in the Styles Editor, try
using one that might be visible on your main toolbar (or a visible property bar) while the Styles Editor is still open.
Sidebar: The main program toolbars and property bars can be customized with new buttons. See "How to create a toolbar button..." here.
* * *
Add a frequently used button to the Styles Editor's toolbar
If you find a particular program toolbar or property bar button is useful enough to always have available in the Styles Editor you can add it to the toolbar there.
Since the toolbar in the Styles Editor is a "clone" of the program's
Text property bar, you could modify the Text property bar (see here) -- or better, simply add a copy of the button on it to the Styles Editor's toolbar, as follows:
To copy
a program toolbar button or a property bar button (e.g., the Highlight On/Off button) to the Editor's
toolbar, hold down both the
<Ctrl> and <Alt> keys while you drag that button from the
source toolbar onto the Styles Editor's bar. [Most people probably will
want to copy the button, not
move it (as would happen with just the <Alt> key), so that the
source toolbar remains unmodified.]
To re-position the button, hold down the <Alt> key while you drag the button to a new position.
If you need to delete a button from any toolbar or property bar, simply hold down the <Alt> key and drag the button off the bar.
If the button you need is not visible on the Editor's toolbar, you can
use the small arrows on the right side of it to scroll down.
Step 8. Apply
the style in the current document. (If you wish to use the style in other documents, see the important
note below.)
Here's how:
All users
You can apply the style at the current cursor location (then type some
text) or you can apply it to previously selected text.
To do so, you
can choose the style by from the "Select Style" drop list on the text
property bar, or by clicking Format, Styles, <style name>, Insert.
Tip:
If you name each style with a different initial letter you can quickly apply the style:
Call up the Styles dialog with a shortcut key (default = Alt+F8, but you can assign
any available keys), then follow the shortcut with the initial letter,
then press <Enter> to apply the style at the cursor location.
Advanced users
You can write a small macro to apply the style, then
assign the macro to a toolbar, keyboard shortcut, or menu (as explained
here).
For example, if the custom
style is named MyNewStyle, then use this macro command:
StyleOn ("MyNewStyle")
Note that your custom style — such as a
Character style — might
require you to select text first before
applying the style. Hence, a macro like this will check for the
existence of a selection of text and warn you if nothing was selected:
If (Not ?BlockActive)
Messagebox (;; "Select text first!") Quit
Else
StyleOn ("MyNewStyle")
Endif
Tip: If
you want to apply the named style to several words or phrases wherever they
appear in the body of the document, see Footnote 2. (You can also search the document to find each instance of that named style.)
Important
By design, custom styles are
created only in the current document, which can
be a regular WordPerfect document (.wpd) or even a template (.wpt) you opened for editing.
If you are working in a regular WordPerfect document (.wpd) when you
create them, be aware that unless
you deliberately save them to the default template or to a custom
template or you later retrieve them from the document, they will be
available only in the document where they were created. (If they
were created in a template document (.wpt), then all new documents spawned
by that template will contain them.)
To
save them from the regular WordPerfect document (.wpd) where they were
created to your default (or other) template (.wpt), see below. |
How to create a
"QuickStyle"
QuickStyles
are styles created based on the formatting in effect at the current
cursor location.
[This is a similar feature to Format, QuickFormat,
which lets you copy the format of text and apply it elsewhere in the
document; however, creating a QuickStyle allows you to save it as a new custom style.]
Note
that in recent versions of WordPerfect you cannot create a QuickStyle
while inside a header, footer, footnote, endnote, text box, or other
"substructure".
Step 1. Click
in or select the text that is in the format you want.
Step 2. Click
Format, Styles.
Step 3. Click
the QuickStyle button.
Step 4. Type a
name for the style in the Style Name box.
Step 5. Type a
description for the style in the Description box.
Step 6. Enable
one of the following buttons:
• Paragraph With Automatic Update — applies
the style to the paragraph in which the cursor is positioned
• Character With Automatic Update — applies
the style to selected text or to text you are about to type
Step 7. Click
OK, then Close.
Step 8. Apply
the style: You can apply the style to selected text by choosing
it from the "Select Style" drop list on the text property bar, or by
clicking Format, Styles, <style name>, Insert.
Optional:
You can save the QuickStyle as a new custom style. See below.
Page Top
How to use
"QuickFormat"
QuickFormat
lets you copy the format at the cursor location — i.e., the format of
text characters, a paragraph heading, or a table cell — and apply it
elsewhere in the document.
Though similar to a QuickStyle,
it is generally used to quickly modify just the current document's
text. Therefore, if you think you might need to save the
formatting as a style for future documents, consider creating a
QuickStyle above instead.
[The following procedure is from WordPerfect
X5's Help <F1> key; however, the procedure should be similar in
other versions).]
"You can copy the
format of text and apply it to other text in a document. If you want to
copy selected text, then formatting attributes, such as font, font
size, and font style, are all copied. If you want to copy the heading
in a paragraph, the paragraph style as well as the font and its
attributes are copied.
When you copy the
format of text, you automatically create a text style. Changing text
that has been formatted using a text style also changes other text in
the document that uses that style.
Step 1. Click
in the text whose format you want to copy.
Step 2. Click
Format, QuickFormat.
Step 3. Enable
one of the following options:
• Selected characters — copies the format
of the font and its attributes
• Headings — copies the format of the
paragraph and its styles, and the font and its attributes
• Table cells — copies cell attributes,
text colors, fonts, fills, and lines
• Table structure — copies table borders,
fills, default line, and table style
Step 4. Click
OK.
Step 5. Drag
the QuickFormat paintbrush pointer [which looks like a paint roller]
over the text to which you want to copy the format.
Step 6. Click
Format, QuickFormat."
Tips
You can also enable or disable
QuickFormat by clicking the QuickFormat button (which looks like a
paint roller).
QuickFormat is disabled when no check
mark displays beside the QuickFormat menu command.
If you might need to save the
style for future documents, consider creating a QuickStyle above instead.
Page Top
Editing, modifying, and copying existing styles
Here's how to edit an existing style or
create a modified version of an existing style.
Note that it is a good idea to first make a
copy of an existing style (or anything else you want to modify), saving
it with a different name, then modify the copy (not the original).
[See also "Retrieving custom (user) styles from another document or
template" below.]
Advantage: Renaming new custom styles that are based on
existing styles is especially useful in an organization where many
users might share documents, compared to a solo practice where
modifying the original item without renaming it isn't usually a problem
later on.
Tip: You can also copy system styles such as the factory-shipped Heading styles. This lets you modify them and/or rename them to something more useful to you.
• To make a copy before you begin making modifications, use the Options
button on the Format, Styles dialog. You can make a copy just to the
current document, then if all goes well, you can save the copy to the
default template (next section).
• To modify the copy: The easiest way is to apply the style in a document, then
simply double-click the [Style] code for that style in Reveal Codes.
This brings up the Styles Editor, where you can use its menu to Insert
a Tab, or use its Format, Paragraph menu to add an Indent, and so
forth. You can also insert format codes such as [Bold] or [Large] from
either the Styles Editor's menu or its property bar.
• Note that if the style has not yet been
applied in the document, but exists in the template that spawned that
document, you can edit the style from the main WordPerfect menu
with Format, Styles in much the same way you can create a style from
scratch as explained above. Again, it is wise to
make a copy of it first.
• Resetting the modified style: If you modified a standard, system (i.e.,
built-in) WordPerfect style, such as a Heading style, instead of making a copy of it to modify,
you can always reset the system style to the factory default state: see below.
[Although not a common procedure, you can also hide the standard system styles from view by editing the template
(so that it applies to new documents) and using the Options button to
choose Settings; then disable (un-tick) the "WordPerfect system styles"
option; then save the template. This does not remove the system styles
from the program itself, it just hides them from view. To restore them
to view, just edit the template and reverse the process.]
Saving
custom styles to your default (or other) template
If you intend to use a newly created
custom style or a modified style in new, blank documents, you
will need to copy it to your default (or other) template, as explained
in this section.
You can also copy custom styles
from another document or template to a disk file, then import
(retrieve) them into the default or custom template. See the next
section, under "Traditional methods".
|
Methods
When you create a style (or edit an existing
style) it is automatically saved in the current document. If you want
it available in future documents, you need to save the custom style to
the default template or a custom template.
Saving
styles to the default template:
Step 1. Open
the document that contains the custom style. Click Format, Styles to
bring up the Styles editor.
Step 2.
Select (i.e., click on) the custom style in the "Available styles"
list, then click the Options button, then Copy.
Step 3. In
the pop-up "Styles Copy" dialog that appears, choose "Default
template," then click OK. The style will now be available in all new
documents based on the default template from that point forward.
Saving
styles to a custom template:
If you want to copy the style to a
existing template other than the default template so that the
style is available in new documents based on that specific template:
Step 1. Copy
the style to the default template as described above. Then click File,
New from Project (or File, New in WP8) and select the template to which
you want to add the new style. Basically you want to open this "target"
template and copy the styles into it from the "source" template (the
default WP template).
Step 2.
Click the Options button, then "Edit WP Template." When the template
appears, use the Copy/Remove Object button on the Template property bar
to bring up the dialog that lets you select the Template to copy from
(e.g., WP12US.WPT for WP12's default US template), the Object type
("Styles"), and the custom styles to copy (in the left-hand field).
Click Copy>> to add the style(s) to the currently edited template.
Step 3.
Click Close twice, then "Yes" to save changes, to return to the main
editing screen.
Alternative:
An alternative to
this method is to copy custom styles to a disk file, then import
(retrieve) them into the template. See the next
section, under "Traditional methods".)
Note
Displaying
styles in the Format, Styles dialog and in the Select Style drop list
on the Text property bar:
By default these
are set to automatically display
so that you can select or edit a style. The settings to display -- or
not display -- certain styles are found on the left side of the Style Settings dialog,
which can be accessed via Format, Styles, Options button, Settings.

Changes to these
settings will be active for the current WordPerfect session only. They
are reset to the above defaults when next you load the program.
This dialog is further explained here.
Page Top
Retrieving (importing) custom styles
from another document or template
Need one or more user-created styles
(a.k.a "custom" styles) from an earlier version of WordPerfect? Want to use a custom style from an existing document —
even if you didn't create it?
There are several traditional and non-traditional ways to obtain custom styles -- including outline styles and graphics styles -- without having to recreate them from scratch. These are described in the sections below.
After
retrieving custom styles into a document with one of the methods below,
you can replace existing styles in that document with the new styles
using a macro such as ReplSty (they must be named differently when using this macro).
You can remove unused styles by name from a document or template. See below.
Caution:
Share documents?
Assume you open a document
created on another computer that contains a custom or customized style
(including Outlines, which are also styles) and one that has the same name as an existing system style
on your computer (such as a Heading 2 style).
What happens:
The system version (a.k.a. "standard" or "factory
shipped" version) of the custom(-ized) style on your computer will
become the "active" version in that document.
Essentially, your WordPerfect's version replaces
the incoming (imported) same-named style
in the document. The program defaults to the same-named style on your
computer since you (with your own WordPerfect program) are the current
editor of the document.
Solution:
Have the sender (which could be you!) use style names that differ from
standard, factory-shipped style names when they create or modify a
style for distribution. (Standard styles or Outline styles can be
copied, modified, and then saved with a different name.)
For example, if someone modified Heading 2 they could name it Heading 2new. The recipient will then have both Heading 2 and Heading 2new
available in that document. The modified version travels with the
document, and can optionally be retrieved for future use, as explained
below.
Reference: See this thread
on WordPerfect Universe for how this affected users in a law firm with
a customized, standard outline style created by an attorney who
propagated it to his staff though various documents he created. In each
case, since the propagated (customized) version of the outline style
had the same name as his staff's existing system style, it was
superseded by the staff's existing system version when they loaded the
documents!
Operation: This seems to be similar to the operation of the Updater.wcm macro, which updates (resets) any on-screen (or on-disk) document with the current system's default styles, etc.
TRADITIONAL
methods
"Tradional" methods use simple menu choices, and are often recommended in various articles and user manuals.
Some non-traditional methods (next section) use copy-and-paste or simple macros, but you might want to review them before deciding on the best method for your purposes.
METHOD 1. Saving and retrieving a custom style in the Styles dialogThe method here is to first
save the custom (user) styles to a special file on disk, then retrieve
it later.
This approach is useful if you don't have the original document file
or WordPerfect template available later to make a copy of the
user-created custom styles.
Step 1. Save the custom styles to disk.
Step 1A. To save the user styles, open the document
(or template) that contains the desired styles. Click on Format,
Styles, Options button, Save As. Click on the "User styles" radio
button (this saves all user-created styles) and type in a filename.
It's probably a good idea to give the filename a recognizable extension
such as ".STY". The style file is saved to the default
template folder as shown in Tools, Settings, Files, Template.
Step 1B. Similarly, save any custom graphics
styles with Format, Graphic Styles, Options, Save As, and any custom outline styles with Insert, Outlines/Bullets
& Numbering, Options, Save As, User Styles.
Step 2. Retrieve the saved custom files from the disk into another document (or template).
To retrieve these custom user styles, open the
"target" document or template for editing and click on Format, Styles,
Options button, Retrieve, and specify the name of the saved style file.
Click on the "User styles" radio button.
Note: In the Style type area, the options
are:
"Both" - this retrieves both the styles you have created and the
preset styles provided with WordPerfect;
"User styles" (this is the one
you want here) - retrieves only the styles you or other persons have
created;
"System styles" - retrieves only the preset styles provided
with WordPerfect.
Also, when you retrieve a file the styles in that
file are saved with the active (current) document. To save them in the
default template, see Step 3.
Click OK. The custom styles in the original
source document should show up in the Styles dialog "Available styles"
list.
Remember to retrieve any custom graphic or outline
styles you exported in Step 1. For graphic styles: Format, Graphic
Styles, Options, Retrieve. For outlines: Insert, Outlines/Bullets &
Numbering, Options, Retrieve.
Step 3. [Optional]
While still in the new document, you can
copy any new user style to your default template
with Format, Styles,
<choose the new style from the "Available styles" list>. Click
the Options button, then click Copy, Default template, OK, Close.
Repeat for other custom styles you want to add to the template.
You can slso copy any custom graphic or outline styles to the default template. For graphic styles: Format, Graphic Styles, Options, Copy, etc. For outlines: Insert, Outlines/Bullets & Numbering,
Options, Copy, etc..
Tips
As an alternative to Step 3, you can
retrieve the styles directly into the default template by first
clicking Format, Styles, Options, Settings; click the option to save to
the default template; then do Step 2 to retrieve the style file.
However, the above three steps may be less problematic and have the
advantage of letting you select the particular styles to copy to the
default template.
For more on preserving customizations when upgrading or
reinstalling, see this
thread on WordPerfect universe.
METHOD 2. Import custom styles from one template into another templateThis method requires you to edit a
custom template to retrieve styles from the original template.
This is sometimes called "importing" or "migrating" styles from a template file.
How to do it
You can import various "objects" -- customized
keyboards, toolbars, menus, styles, etc. — from another template (if
they are not already present in the new template) with the Copy/Remove
Object button on the template property bar.
Simply click the Copy/Remove button, choose
the Template to copy from, choose the Object type (i.e., Styles),
select one or more styles, and click Copy to import them.
Click Close
when finished, then Save the template.
Notes
¤ Save and back up the new custom
template before importing other objects. This
is especially important if you have spent a lot of time customizing the
new template before importing other objects into it.
¤ The template to be copied from must be in
the same folder on your system where the custom template is located.
¤ Some Styles available in the old template
can be either normal format styles or outline styles. WordPerfect
doesn't tell you which type of style they are in the Copy/Remove
Template Objects dialog's Styles list, but when you copy them to the
new template they will show up in the new template in the appropriate
place (either the Format, Styles menu, or the Insert, Outline... menu,
respectively).
NON-TRADITIONAL
methods
"Non-traditional"
methods use a simple macro to retrieve or create styles, or just "clip"
(copy) one or more styles from an existing document.
Here are 3 methods with several variations.
METHOD 1. Using a small macro to retrieve user (i.e., custom) styles
Method 1a: Retrieve (and insert) several custom (user) styles with a macro
This method can be useful if you have the
original document file or WordPerfect template available that contains
the custom styles you need.
Create a macro (see Footnote 1); be sure to change the drive-path-filename
in the macro command below to the "target" template/document that
contains the user styles you want to import into the current document
or template.
Also: Be sure to retain the double quote
marks surrounding the drive-path-filename, and note that the macro
command should be all on one line:
StyleRetrieve("drive-path-filename"; UserStyles!; CurrentDoc!)
Note: For outline styles, use:
OutlineStyleRetrieve("drive-path-filename"; UserStyles!; CurrentDoc!)
Play the macro in the current document. It should retrieve all custom styles (or Outline styles) into the current document.
Note that this will overwrite current
custom styles in that document that have the same name. (For customized
standard styles, see the note of caution above.)
You can edit a template file (.wpt) and
play the macro so that the new styles will be present in any newly
created document that is based on that (revised) template. Needless to
say, always make a backup of a template before modifying it.
If you need to use the macro frequently, you can assign it to a menu, toolbar button, or keystroke combination. See here.
Method 1b: Retrieve (and insert) several custom (user) styles from inside a macro
[For advanced users]
You can create a macro as a "container" -- a "style library" -- and insert several
styles from it into any open document or template. (The method can
retrieve outlines, too; see Notes below.)
This might be useful for
distributing custom styles to many users in an organization, or to
update an existing (and currently open) document or template on your
own system.
Just open the document or template and play the macro to
import the styles. [Thanks to Noal Mellott for this tip and technique, posted here
on WordPerfect Universe, 8-23-06. (Look for the most recent version further in that thread.)]
Method and operation
While similar to Example #1 above,
there is a significant difference: The custom styles are stored
inside the macro itself.
As with any WordPerfect file, you
can create and save one or more custom styles — i.e., a personal or
company "style library" — inside a macro file (.WCM). The macro then
acts like a briefcase to transport these styles. The macro can be used
to insert (or replace) styles into any open document or template simply
by playing the macro while in that document or template.
In operation, the macro uses a
single StyleRetrieve() command to insert the custom style library
stored in the macro itself into the current document (.WPD), or into a
template (.WPT) that is open for editing.
The one-line macro command might look
something like the example below (where <UserName> should be replaced with your Windows user name and <MyMacros> should be replaced with the name of the folder containing the MyStyleLibraryMacro.wcm macro -- but omitting the angle brackets used with these placeholders).
Notice that this command points
specifically to the macro's filename on disk (here, named "MyStyleLibraryMacro.wcm").
That is, it points to itself, not just to the folder which contains the
macro.
Example
StyleRetrieve("C:\Users\<UserName>\Documents\WordPerfect\<My
Macros>\MyStyleLibraryMacro.wcm"; UserStyles!; CurrentDoc!)
Tip:
If you are sending this macro to another user, or just as an
alternative, you can replace the path and filename (above) with a
[Filename] code from the WordPerfect menu's Insert, Other, Path and Filename.
It would then appear (in Reveal Codes) like this -
StyleRetrieve("[Filename]"; UserStyles!; CurrentDoc!)
- but display in the editing screen as in the Example above.
You can create the styles to put in
the new macro file, or use one of the methods in the next section below
(e.g., Method 2) to insert one or more existing
styles into the macro file.
For an example of this, see Noal
Mellott's StyleLibraryPrimary
macro at WordPerfect Universe.
You can edit it to remove the styles you don't want, and/or edit it to
include your own custom styles. NOTE: Be sure to edit and
recompile it (with Save & Compile) at least once or it might not
work.
Notes and tips
¤ The StyleLibraryPrimary
macro's StyleRetreive command uses the standard path and filename
code (Insert > Other > Path and Filename) as the command's
first parameter, instead of the usual text string or label. This
technique allows the macro to be placed anywhere on the system and
still function properly, since the code always points to the current
location of the macro.
¤ Note also that the StyleRetrieve
command has a parameter to let you retrieve user styles, system
styles, or all styles. You most likely would retrieve just your
custom user styles.
¤ You can modify the macro to insert
custom Outlines, too. Outlines are just another form of WP
style, linked to one or more "level" styles that each apply specific
formatting.
• To do this, either create the
custom outlines in the macro file itself (Insert,
Outline/Bullets&Numbering, Create [or use Copy, then Edit]) -or-
retrieve them into the macro file with Insert, Outline/Bullets...,
Options, Retrieve. Once the custom outlines are embedded in the macro
file, edit the macro's code to include a OutlineStyleRetrieve() command. [You
can copy the macro's existing StyleRetrieve() command -- with all its parameters -- and simply add the
word Outline to the beginning of the command line (with no spaces, as
above).]
• More on custom outline headings:
As an example, to create automatically numbered Legal-, Standard-, and
Roman-style headings, see "Legal-style Headings: How to combine Outline
numbering with a default or custom Heading style formatting to create
automatically numbered Legal Headings," here.
¤ In a later WordPerfect
Universe post Noal showed a code snippet that you can add to the
top of his macro (or use in any macro) that can rename existing
styles. The code was basically the following (where <Original>
and <New> represent the original style and new style name,
respectively):
Error(Off!)
StyleEditBegin("<Original>"; CurrentDoc!)
StyleCodes (WithoutOffCodes!; CurrentDoc!)
StyleRename("<New>")
SubstructureExit()
StyleEditEnd(Save!)
Wait(3)
Error(On!)
¤ If you need to use the macro
frequently, you can assign it to a menu, toolbar button, or keystroke
combination. See here.
METHOD
2. "Clipping" custom styles from other documentsHere are several methods you can use to copy
a style that was either created by someone else or created in an
earlier version of WordPerfect on your own system.
The methods copy the styles
from an existing document to either your current
document or your default (or other) template. (Copying to a template
makes it available for future use.)
Method 2a: "Block retrieve" several styles
This is slightly different from the
traditional method given above.
Here, you don't need to first save the
style to a disk file if the document containing the style is still
available on your system.
It is similar to the traditional method in
that it copies all
user-created styles from the source document. You can then choose which
ones to add to your default template.
Step 1.
Make sure the source document that contains the custom style is
available on your system (it doesn't have to be open).
Step 2.
Open the target document or a blank document. Click on Format, Styles,
Options button, Retrieve. In the "Retrieve files from..." dialog that
pops up, browse to the filename of the document that contains the
desired style and choose it. Click on the "User styles" radio button.
Note: In the Style type area, the
options are:
"Both" - this retrieves both the styles you have created
and the preset styles provided with WordPerfect;
"User styles" (this is
the one you want here) - retrieves only the styles you or other persons
have created;
"System styles" - retrieves only the preset styles
provided with WordPerfect.
Also, when you retrieve a file the styles in
that file are saved with the active (current) document. To save
them in the default template, see step 3 (next).
Click OK. The custom styles in the
original source document should show up in the Styles dialog "Available
styles" list of the current (target) document.
Step 3. While still in the new document, you can
copy any new style to your default template with Format, Styles,
<choose the new style from the "Available styles" list>. Click
the Options button, then click Copy, Default template, OK, Close.
Repeat for other custom styles you want to add to the template.
Method 2b: Retrieve a single style
This approach lets you "grab" a single
style from a source document containing the style -- perhaps a document
originally created by someone else on another system.
Step 1.
Open the document that contains the desired custom style. Use your
mouse or keyboard to select a single word and apply the style to the
word. The word should be on its own line with no other codes or
text.
Step 2.
Open Reveal Codes. Put the cursor in front of (i.e., to the left of)
the style code, and look at the information on the style code itself.
Note that there are three basic
types of styles: Character, Paragraph, and Document (or Open). The type
should be visible on the code itself in Reveal Codes.
The first two
style types (Character and Paragraph) are paired-code styles;
the latter (Document) is produced by a single code that remains in
effect until replaced by another Document style.
Step 3.
Select the style code and the word. If the style is a Character
or Paragraph style, be sure to select both the beginning code
and the ending code as well as the word to eliminate spurious
formatting. If it's an Open code, just select the code and the word.
Step 4.
Copy the code(s) and word to the clipboard with <Ctrl+C>.
Step 5.
Open a new, empty document (or other document) and paste the clipboard
contents into it with <Ctrl+V>. Look in the "Select style" drop
list on the Text property bar; you should see the new style appear in
the list along with any other styles stored in your default template.
Step 6.
While still in the new document, you can copy the new style to your
default template with Format, Styles, <choose the new style from the
"Available styles" list>. Click the Options button, then click Copy,
Default template, OK, Close.
METHOD 3. [For intermediate/advanced users:]
You can use a macro to create and insert a style into any document or
template.Tip: Using a macro to insert a style might also be useful in distributing the style to many users in
an organization.
Below are some examples using this
technique that should work in WordPerfect 8 (c.1999) and later versions. [Note: Beginning with WordPerfect 9, you cannot
record
a style, you have to code it manually. Hence these examples might be
useful as models for future projects.] The macros do not pop up a menu
when played, so you should modify their default settings such as the
style's name, etc.
The first example macro creates a
bold, underlined red character style in the current document (only).
If text was selected first, it will apply the style to the selected
text; otherwise, it will apply the style, and you should then
immediately type the text between the paired style codes (press Enter
to move past them).
The second example macro creates a style that applies a fractional font size (in points: e.g., 10.5p) either to selected text, or to the current non-selected paragraph (or to a line that ends with a hard return), or to the document's text from the cursor location forward.
The third example macro does
something similar to the first example -- it creates a red character style in the current
document -- but with a slightly different technique.
Caveats
Once you use one of these macros in a document, the style is created in, and travels with, that document.
This is one of a style's main features, and since any style can be a
collection of format codes the codes will remain part of that specific
style. All you need to do to apply the style again in that document is
play the macro again. (Or simply choose the named style from the Select
Style drop list on the Text property bar.)
But if you want to modify the style in that particular document
-- e.g., to change the font type -- you should do so by simply editing
the style directly in that document's Reveal Codes window (or by using
Format, Styles). Just double-click directly on any instance of the
[Style] code in Reveal Codes to open the Styles Editor for that style.
(The steps to modify an existing style are nearly identical to creating a new style.) When
you close the Editor with OK the changes will instantly appear in the
text to which the style was applied, wherever that occurs in that
document.
Why not just modify the macro itself? If you were to modify and save any of the macro code below, then play the macro again in that particular document, you would not see the new changes wherever the style was applied. That's because the named style already exists in the document, so the macro skips past the style-creation step and simply inserts the previously created style using the name you gave it.
Of course, you can always create several variations of any macro and name them differently.
For easy access to multiple macros you can customize your menu,
toolbar, or keyboard to quickly play any one of the variations. See here how to do this.
Finally, be cautious about applying a new custom style to another style in the document
(e.g., a WordPerfect Heading style). While this sometimes works without
issues, the new style's formatting can overwrite the existing style --
and this probably is not what you want or expect. (Or maybe that's okay
for your purposes. Your choice.)
- - - - - - - -
Example 1
- - - - - - - -
Here's how to create a character-type
style using 10-point Arial Black font, underlines, and in all red text.
[For more on the three basic types of WordPerfect styles, see above.]
If the style already exists it is not created again: the macro simply inserts it in the document.
To
copy the code into WordPerfect, see Footnote 1.
Obviously,
you should edit the code below to use your preferred style name (which should be different from any other style you or others in your organization might use; see step 3 above), font, font size, color, etc. You can always change or delete the attributes in the code below to suit your needs.
// Macro begins here:
// If some text was selected, bookmark it:
If (?BlockActive)
BookmarkCreate ("Temp_mark")
Endif
// If the EXACT named style already exists, skip creating it:
OnError (SkipApplyStyle@)
// (if style is not found: error condition)
// Create the style (note: style names are limited to 12 characters):
StyleCreate (Name: "SampleStyle"; Type: AutoCharacterStyle!; Library:
CurrentDoc!)
StyleEditBegin (Style: "SampleStyle"; Library: CurrentDoc!)
StyleDescription (Description: "Sample character style")
StyleEnterKeySetting (Action: StyleOff!)
StyleCodes (State: WithOffCodes!; Library: CurrentDoc!)
// Add the desired attributes (font, font size, etc.) to the text to
// which the style is applied in the document:
Font ("Arial Black Regular")
FontSize (10p) // (Size in points; fractional sizes in 0.1p increments)
AttributeAppearanceToggle (Attrib: Underline!)
TextColor (Red: 255; Green: 0; Blue: 0)
// Exit from the Styles Editor:
SubstructureExit ()
StyleEditEnd (State: Save!)
Label(SkipApplyStyle@)
// Reselect the text
if it was originally selected:
OnError (SkipFindBookmark@)
BookmarkFind ("Temp_mark")
BookmarkBlock ("Temp_mark")
Label (SkipFindBookmark@)
// Apply the style to the document text:
StyleOn ("SampleStyle")
// If text was
selected, move the cursor before exiting:
If (?BlockActive)
PosBlockBottom
SelectOff
Endif
// Optional: Move past the style's Off code:
PosCharNext
// Remove the
temporary bookmark:
BookmarkDelete ("Temp_mark")
// Macro ends:
Return
- - - - - - - -
Example 2
- - - - - - - -
This macro can create either a Character style (the default), a Paragraph style, or a Document ("open") style -- depending on the letter used in the first command (in bold) below.
The style's name
was chosen to stay within the 12-character limit imposed by the program
but give some hints about the style. You can, of course, change the
name.
The font size
to apply to text was arbitrarily set to 10.5 points (1 point = 1/72
inch). You can set it to another value, including a whole number (e.g.,
10p). Note that fractional sizes are limited to 0.1 point increments.
The macro code is
similar to Example #1 above but adds a bit more complexity to allow for
3 choices of style type (C/P/D) using a single command (vNewStyleType)
and to require only one place in the code to specify the style's name
and font size.
If the style already exists it is not created again: the macro simply inserts it in the document.
To
copy the code into WordPerfect, see Footnote 1.
Before using the macro see the Caveats above.
// Macro begins here:
// You can change the next 3 commands (variables) to create a different Font Size style. // Note that C= Character; P= Paragraph; D= Document (open) style. // Style names limited by the program to 12 characters.
// Size is in points; fractional point sizes are limited by the program to 0.1 point increments.
vNewStyleType:="C"
vNewStylename:="FontSz-C10.5"
vNewFontSize:=10.5p
// Begin processing here:
// If some text was selected, bookmark it:
If(?BlockActive)
BookmarkCreate("Temp_mark")
Endif
// If the EXACT named style already exists, skip creating it:
OnError(SkipApplyStyle@)
// Create the style. First set the type in upper case:
vNewStyleType:=ToUpper(vNewStyleType)
// Each CaseOf command should be on a separate continuous line:
Switch (vNewStyleType)
CaseOf
"C": StyleCreate (Name: vNewStylename; Type:
AutoCharacterStyle!; Library: CurrentDoc!)
CaseOf
"P": StyleCreate (Name: vNewStylename; Type:
AutoParagraphStyle!; Library: CurrentDoc!)
CaseOf "D": StyleCreate (Name: vNewStylename; Type: OpenStyle!; Library: CurrentDoc!)
Default: StyleCreate (Name:
vNewStylename; Type: AutoCharacterStyle!; Library: CurrentDoc!)
Endswitch
StyleEditBegin (Style: vNewStylename; Library: CurrentDoc!)
StyleDescription (Description: "New font size")
StyleEnterKeySetting (Action: StyleOff!)
StyleCodes (State: WithOffCodes!; Library: CurrentDoc!)
FontSize (vNewFontSize)
// Examples of additional attributes you can add to the
// text (remove leading "///" marks to activate them):
//
/// Font ("Arial Black Regular")
/// TextColor (Red: 255; Green: 0; Blue: 0)
/// AttributeAppearanceToggle (Attrib: Italics!)
// Exit from the Styles Editor:
SubstructureExit ()
StyleEditEnd (State: Save!)
Label(SkipApplyStyle@)
// Reselect the text if it was originally selected:
OnError(SkipFindBookmark@)
BookmarkFind("Temp_mark")
BookmarkBlock("Temp_mark")
Label(SkipFindBookmark@)
// Apply the style:
StyleOn (vNewStylename)
// If text was selected, move the cursor before exiting:
If(?BlockActive)
PosBlockBottom
SelectOff
Endif
// Remove the temporary bookmark:
BookmarkDelete("Temp_mark")
// Macro ends:
Return
- - - - - - - -
Example 3
- - - - - - - -
Here's a macro posted by Kenneth Hobson on WordPerfect Universe (here)
that -
(1) stores all styles in the document (default and custom) in a
variable array; then
(2) checks to see if the to-be-created style
exists in the array (if not, it creates it); then
(3) it inserts the style at the cursor location.
To copy the code below into see Footnote 1.
Notes and tips
▸ In some early versions of WordPerfect, the first time you
play this particular macro you might see a harmless error message about the
obsolete (but still functioning) GetData command. Ignore it and
Continue compiling the macro.
▸ For a more advanced version that also applies the style in the document, see Footnote 3.
// StyleColorRed.wcm
by Kenneth Hobson.
// Get style names in current document:
GetData(x;Styles!;Count!;CurrentDoc!)
Declare aStyles[x]
ForNext(i;1;aStyles[0]) GetData(y;Styles!;Name!;CurrentDoc!;i) aStyles[i]=y
EndFor
// Check for the
existence of a particular
// style name in the current document:
loc="ColorRed" IN aStyles[]
If (loc=0) // if it doesn't exist, create it: StyleCreate("ColorRed";CharacterStyle!) StyleEditBegin("ColorRed";CurrentDoc!) StyleCodes(WithOffCodes!;CurrentDoc!) TextColor("Red") // or use TextColor(;255;0;0) SubstructureExit() StyleEditEnd(Save!)
EndIf
// Insert the style
at the cursor location:
StyleOn("ColorRed")
// Macro ends:
Return
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How to reset a
modified standard style to its WordPerfect default state
Note
This section applies to standard, "factory shipped" WordPerfect styles.
For user-created styles, you can edit them with Format, Styles to change them, or you can simply delete them with Format, Styles, Options and re-create them.
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For the current document, simply click on Format, Styles, <style name>, Options
button, Reset.
For the template (default or custom), edit the template with File, New from Project (or just
File, New in older versions), choose the category from the Create New
drop list, then click on the name of the template to reset. Then:
• Click the Options button, then click Edit
WP Template.
• When the template opens (it should have a
filename at the top of the WordPerfect window that has a .WPT
extension), click Format, Styles, <style name>, Options button,
Reset. Answer Yes to "Reset style to default state?," then click Close
to retutn to the template.
• Save the template: click the Close button
on the template property bar and answer Yes to the message about saving.
If the Reset button is grayed (greyed)
out, this usually means that the style is a
user-created custom style and not a standard WordPerfect style that was
modified. You can edit the user-created style (with Format, Styles) to
change it, or simply delete it with Format, Styles, Options, Delete.
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How to delete (remove) styles
from a document, a custom template, or from the default template
Removing individual
custom styles from a document or template
You can delete a text style that
you have created -- but you cannot delete any of the preset factory shipped styles (even
modified ones) provided with WordPerfect. [However, you can reset factory styles
to their default state (see above).]
When you delete a user-created custom
style, you can -either- delete just the style itself, leaving its format codes behind -or- you
can delete both the style and its formatting codes. (See Method 1 for the latter operation.)
Method 1 (manual removal)
[Back up the document or template file first.]
1. Open the document or custom template for editing. (For help editing the default template see below.)
2. Click Format, Styles.
3. Choose (i.e., click on) the style from the Available Styles list box.
4. Click Options, Delete.
5. Choose the style you want to delete from the Select Styles To Delete
list box.
6. Enable the desired radio button:
• Including formatting codes
-- deletes
both the [Style] codes and any formatting codes inside the style
• Leave formatting codes in document
--
deletes only the [Style] codes, leaving any formatting codes alone that
are inside the style; these formatting codes will appear instead of the
[Style] code wherever that style was applied in the document
Note that neither option deletes any text or graphics that might be inside the [Style] code
Method 2 (macro removal)
Create a small one-line macro to delete the specific style
when you play it. If the style is in the currently
open (for editing) document or template, the following deletes it (leaving the format codes behind) while
keeping the text to which the style was applied. (To copy it into your program see Footnote 1.)
StyleDelete (Style:
"MyStyle"; Codes: LeavingCodes!; Library: CurrentDoc!)
Be sure to
change "MyStyle" to your custom style's name (but retain the quote
marks).
Method 3 (macro removal)
Another alternative is to use a macro that removes all styles in the document except
for system and custom styles saved in the document's template, deleting
just the style and leaving its format codes and text behind. See for
example, the one by Roy Lewis posed on WordPerfect Universe here.
Removing all
unused custom styles from a particular document or a custom template
Use Corel's WPLOOK
The easiest way to remove all
unused styles at once from a particular document (closed, on disk) is
to use the free, standalone Corel file repair utility, WPLOOK.EXE.
To get and use WPLOOK.EXE, see here.
Removing all unused styles is handy if -
(1)
you hate scrolling through dozens of unused styles in the Styles list,
or
(2) you want to reduce the size of the document (even if only slightly),
or
(3) you do not want to share any custom styles (except those that
are needed to format the document) with a recipient of the document.
The latter is often done with macros, too, which are just a type of
WordPerfect document.
If enabled with a checkbox on its menu, WPLOOK removes just those styles that
are not in use in the document. (Think of that option as a "clean up" routine. However, WPLOOK's main function is to repair damaged files, as discussed here.)
Notes
¤ While WPLOOK can remove all unused custom styles present in the current document, it does not remove styles that are part
of (saved in) the template on which that document was based. (You can edit the template and use either of the methods above, or the method below, to remove those styles.)
¤ WPLOOK does not remove unwanted styles used somewhere in the document text: it removes all unused styles stored inside the document. You can use the methods above to remove unwanted individual styles in the document's text.
¤ As noted above, you cannot remove factory shipped ("system")
styles (e.g., Heading 1 .. Heading 5). However, you can reset factory styles
to their default state (see above).
Removing a custom style
from the default template
Caution: If
you edit the default template, or
any template for that matter, it is always a good idea to make a backup
of it first.
To remove the style from the template:
1. Click on File, New From Project (or
just File, New in WP8).
2. In the drop-down list under the "Create
New" tab, select (i.e., click on) the category, "Custom WP Templates."
3. Select "Create a blank document." This
is the (oddly named) default template on which all new (blank)
documents are based.
[Note: If you have installed more than one version of WordPerfect you will see additional "Create
a blank document" templates listed. Just right-click on each one and
examine its Project Properties; this will tell you the Project filename
of the template the item is based on. You can then rename the item in
the Project list via the Display Name field. See here for a detailed explanation.]
4. Click the Options button, then select
"Edit WP Template." The default template should load on screen. (It
will have a .WPT filename extension at the top of the window.)
5. [As in Method 1 above:] Click Format, Styles, and choose the
style to delete. Click Options, Delete to bring up a dialog where you
can delete the style.
6. Click File, Save and close the template.
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Footnotes section ▸
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Footnote
1
To copy a macro from a newsgroup message, web
page, e-mail, or other Internet source -
Select all text from beginning to end, and
copy it to the Windows clipboard with <Ctrl+C> or Edit, Copy;
Open a new (blank) document in WordPerfect
and click on Tools, Macro, Macro Toolbar to display the Macro Toolbar;
Position your cursor after any codes in
Reveal Codes, and click on Edit, Paste Special, Unformatted Text to
paste the macro code into the WP document without any extraneous
formatting or other unwanted codes. [Generally, you will want to copy
the original code as plain text. Later, you can highlight it or use
redline, color, bold, etc.];
Check the pasted text for long lines that
may have wrapped into two or more lines with a hard return [HRt] or
line break [Ln Brk] between them; in Reveal Codes, delete the hard
return(s) or line break(s) to "glue" the lines back together;
Save the pasted material with the Save &
Compile button on the Macro Toolbar. This will save the macro to your
default macros folder as shown in Tools, Settings, Files, Merge/Macro.
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Footnote
2 [Advanced users]
To apply a style to several words or phrases wherever they appear in
the body of the document:
Step 1. Create
the style in the document or the template that spawned it. (You can
also do this with a macro, such as the one that follows below.)
Step 2. Copy
this macro into your WordPerfect (see Footnote 1
above). Be sure to (1) use your own words/phrases in the Array[] command; and
(2) use the correct name of your style in the StyleOn() command
below (the example uses "BoldRed").
// Macro begins here
// Here, store your words/phrases
in an Array[] variable;
// replace these six examples with your own items
// (keep each of them under 79 characters, including spaces):
Array[]={
"Shakespeare";
"London";
"Leased Premises";
"Master Lease";
"improvements";
"Transferee" // <- Note: last item does not end in a
semicolon
}
pResetFindReplace ()
OnError(Msg@)
ForEach(vVar;Array[])
PosDocVeryTop()
// SearchFindWholeWordsOnly(Yes!) // <- OPTIONAL
// SearchCaseSensitive (State: Yes!) // <- OPTIONAL
SearchString (StrgToLookFor: vVar)
OnNotFound(NextOne@)
While(true)
SearchNext(Regular!)
// Note: use your own style's name here in place of
// "BoldRed" (but retain the quote marks):
StyleOn("BoldRed")
Endwhile
Label(NextOne@)
Endfor
Label(End@)
pResetFindReplace ()
Return
Label(Msg@)
Messagebox(;;"Style not found!")
Go(End@)
Procedure pResetFindReplace
()
SearchString("") ReplaceString("")
// Only one Match* command can be active at any one time:
// MatchPositionAfter()
// MatchExtendSelection()
// MatchPositionBefore()
MatchSelection()
SearchFindWholeWordsOnly(No!) MatchWithAttributes(No!)
ReplaceWithAttributes(No!) SearchCaseSensitive(No!)
ReplaceWithCase(No!) MatchWithFont(No!)
ReplaceWithFont(No!) MatchWithFontSize(No!)
ReplaceWithFontSize(No!) SearchInSelection(No!)
SearchWordForms(No!) SearchWrap(No!) MatchLimit(No!)
EndProcedure
// End of macro
Tip
To search for a specific named style (here, using the example name of "MyNewStyle"), something like this snippet should do the work (taken from the ReplStyl macro which can search for, and replace, named styles).
Note
that after the macro finds an instance of that style you probably will
need more commands to perform other tasks. Similarly, you will need to
add commands to do something else if an instance is NOT found.
// Macro begins here
// ...
vStyleName:="MyNewStyle" // <- Store the existing style's name in a variable
// ...
// ... place cursor where desired, then -
MatchPositionAfter // Optional: Place the cursor after the style's On code
SpecificSearchStringBegin // Look for the named style's On code
StyleSystemOn (vStyleName) // <- Use the specified style name
SpecificStringEnd // (Required command)
SearchNext (Regular!) // Search for next instance in the body text areas
// ... when found, you could select everything up to the style's Off code, etc.
// ...
pResetFindReplace
() // Before exiting, reset the Search command to WP default
// ... etc.
Return
Procedure pResetFindReplace
()
SearchString("") ReplaceString("")
// Only one Match* command can be active at any one time:
// MatchPositionAfter()
// MatchExtendSelection()
// MatchPositionBefore()
MatchSelection()
SearchFindWholeWordsOnly(No!) MatchWithAttributes(No!)
ReplaceWithAttributes(No!) SearchCaseSensitive(No!)
ReplaceWithCase(No!) MatchWithFont(No!)
ReplaceWithFont(No!) MatchWithFontSize(No!)
ReplaceWithFontSize(No!) SearchInSelection(No!)
SearchWordForms(No!) SearchWrap(No!) MatchLimit(No!)
EndProcedure
// End of macro
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Footnote 3
To create a custom Character style with a macro:
Example
Below is a macro that can create a
Character style when the macro is played in the current document (or in a
template, if it is played in the open template), and store it
in the Styles
list. Hence you only need to play it once in a standard document (or a
template, which will carry down to documents spawned by that template).
Once stored in a document it can be applied to selected text from the Select Style list on the text property bar. Or, if nothing is selected, it will apply the style at the cursor location, ready for your typed text.
Tips
• See also the alternative example below that can create the same type of style, store it, and then apply it whenever the macro is played. Note that the alternative version is designed to be used via a macro each time you need to apply the style,
while this version is used to create the Style. Thereafter you must
choose the Style name in the Select Style list whenever you need to
apply it to some text.
[Some users prefer
one method over the other, so both are demonstrated here. Of course,
you could add the same "Apply the style in the document" code segment
found in the alternative example macro to this macro, just above the
point where the macro exists.]
• There is no harm in playing the macro more than once in the same
document (or template): It will only create and store the style once (unless you rename the style in the macro's code).
It uses a Character style named
"BoldRed" whose purpose is to apply a bold font attribute plus a red
text color. (For a macro to create a bold, redlined, italicized, bracketed custom style see the alternative code below.)
Options and notes:
• The macro can also include a different font: See the Font and FontSize commands in
the macro code, which in this example are disabled with comment marks (//). Note that you could as easily use
the Redline! attribute instead of a red text color (as in the alternative code below), and/or use
Underline! or other text attributes.
• There are 3 optional lines (currently disabled) to create square brackets
([]) around the text to which the style is applied. This might be useful to
create bracketed draft text that can be easily reformatted by editing
the [Style] code later (e.g., to remove the brackets and/or red color).
• Note
also that the macro does its work without notification to the user.
Just check the Styles list (on the Text property bar or in the
Format, Styles dialog) after you play it if you want to verify its presence in that
document. [If you want to have the macro ]
• Important: If you manually change the style's formatting in the macro code below, this will not change anything in a document where the style has already been applied
since the macro will see that the style name already exists. You will
need to either delete the existing style in the document's Format>
Styles dialog to allow using the new formatting when you play the
revised macro, or (better yet) just give the revised style a different
name at the top of the code.
• To copy
this macro code into your WordPerfect to create a functioning macro, see Footnote 1
above.
// Macro begins here
// PURPOSE: Create a
BoldRed Character style.
// Set the preferred style name here (between the double quote marks):
vStyleName:="BoldRed"
vStyleDescription:="Bold red custom style"
// If the named style already exists, OnError() skips this segment:
OnError(SkipCreateStyle@)
// Next, open the Styles Editor and create the basic style
// (all Style commands should be on separate lines):
StyleCreate (Name: vStyleName; Type:AutoCharacterStyle!; Library:CurrentDoc!)
StyleEditBegin (Style: vStyleName; Library: CurrentDoc!)
StyleDescription (Description: vStyleDescription)
StyleEnterKeySetting (Action: StyleOff!)
StyleCodes (State: WithOffCodes!; Library: CurrentDoc!)
// These commands insert your custom formatting in the Styles Editor
// leading comment marks ("//") disable a command:
//Font ("Arial Black
Regular") // <- Optional
//FontSize (10p) // <- Optional
AttributeAppearanceToggle (Attrib: Bold!)
TextColor (Red: 255; Green: 0; Blue: 0)
//Type("[") // <- Optional
//PosDocBottom // <- Optional
//Type("]") // <- Optional
// Exit from the Styles Editor:
SubstructureExit ()
StyleEditEnd (State: Save!)
// Exit macro here:
Label(SkipCreateStyle@)
Return
// Macro code ends here
Alternative example:
Here is a slightly more advanced version (originally posted on WordPerfect Universe here) that -
(1) creates a bold, redlined, italicized, bracketed custom style
in the document if it does not already exist,
... and (unlike the version just above) ...
(2) it immediately applies it to
previously selected text (or if nothing was selected, inserts it into
the current cursor location ready for your text to be typed there.
Note that like the previous version, there is no harm in playing the
macro more than once in the same document: it will only create and
store the style once (unless you rename it).
[Compared to the previous version, advanced users will note the different method (i.e., the GetData segment) that detects the pre-existence of the same style.]
It can be used to convert existing text (or insert newly typed text) as specially marked text [like this]
into the document.
Options and notes:
• You can modify the font, attributes, and brackets in the code below to create your own customized version in the blue areas of the code.
• Later, after it has been used in the document you can simply edit any instance of the
[Style] code (double-click on it) to change the attributes/brackets, or simply remove them
in the Styles Editor to revert the text back to its original format.
All instances of the style in the current document will change
accordingly.
[However, if you manually change the style's formatting in the macro
code below, this will not change anything in the document where the
style as already been applied since the macro will see that the style
name already exists. You will need to either delete the existing style
in the document's Format> Styles dialog to allow using the new
formatting when you play the revised macro, or (better yet) just give the revised style a
different name.]
• You can give the style your own name in the first commands (i.e., vStyleName and vStyleDescription).
• To copy
this macro code into your WordPerfect to create a functioning macro, see Footnote 1
above.
[Side note: In some early versions of WordPerfect, the first time you play the
macro you might see a harmless error message about the obsolete (but
still functioning) GetData command. Ignore it and Continue compiling
the macro.]
• Once copied to your system this macro can be assigned to a new toolbar button, menu, or keyboard shortcut for quicker access.
// Macro begins here
// PURPOSE: Create a
Bold redlined italicized and bracketed Character style.
// Set the preferred style name and description here (between the double quote marks):
vStyleName:="BoldRedBrackets"
vStyleDescription:="Bold italic red brackets"
// Set a flag if something was previously selected, then
// turn select mode off:
vFlag:=0 If(?BlockActive) vFlag:=1 SelectOff Endif
// Get style names in current document:
GetData(x;Styles!;Count!;CurrentDoc!)
Declare aStyles[x]
ForNext(i;1;aStyles[0])
GetData(y;Styles!;Name!;CurrentDoc!;i)
aStyles[i]=y
EndFor
// Check for existence of the style in the current document:
vLoc=vStyleName IN aStyles[]
// if it doesn't exist, create it:
If (vLoc=0)
StyleCreate (Name:vStyleName; Type:AutoCharacterStyle!; Library:CurrentDoc!)
StyleEditBegin (Style: vStyleName; Library: CurrentDoc!)
StyleDescription (Description: "My custom character style")
StyleEnterKeySetting (Action: StyleOff!)
StyleCodes (State: WithOffCodes!; Library: CurrentDoc!)
// Add desired formatting in the Styles Editor:
// Font ("Arial Narrow") // <- Optional
// FontSize (10p) // <- Optional
AttributeAppearanceToggle (Attrib: Bold!)
AttributeAppearanceToggle (Attrib: Italics!)
AttributeAppearanceToggle (Attrib: Redline!)
// Or -- use a text color:
// TextColor (Red: 255; Green: 0; Blue: 0)
Type("[") // (insert the left bracket)
PosDocBottom // (go to bottom of Contents pane)
Type("]") // (insert the right bracket)
// Close and exit the Styles Editor:
SubstructureExit ()
StyleEditEnd (State: Save!)
Endif
If(vFlag=1)
ReselectLastBlock
vFlag:=0
Endif
// Apply the style in the document:
If(?BlockActive)
StyleOn(vStyleName)
PosSelectBottom
SelectOff
Else
StyleOn(vStyleName)
Endif
// Exit from the macro here:
Return
// Macro code ends here
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